The company said the RTH020 circuit is designed for direct sampling of multi-GHz signals, and it delivers unprecedented bandwidth and aperture jitter performance, according to Rockwell Scientific. A bandwidth of 9 GHz for 0.5 Vpp inputs and over 10 GHz for small signals is more than three times that of any reported track-and-hold circuit, according to the company. The RTH020 allows sampling of 1-GHz signals with 10-bit precision, said the supplier.

With less than 1-mV noise and under 100-fs aperture jitter, the track-and-hold circuit delivers a 56-dB signal-to-noise ratio and a 63-dB total harmonic distortion for a 500-MHz input signal at a full-scale power of 1 Vpp, Rockwell Scientific said.

Used in conjunction with existing ADCs, the track-and-hold device eliminates the need for mixer and filter functions, said the company. The elimination of those circuits lowers system cost by bringing the ADC closer to the antenna, noted the company.

"To detect weak signals, the small signal bandwidth is most relevant," said van der Wagt. "Overall, the bandwidths of the RTH020 represent a 3-to-4 times improvement over competing parts for comparable input levels," he added.

The part is designed for 10-bit distortion performance over the DC to 1 GHz band. Rockwell Scientific said performance gradually decreases at higher frequencies to over 7.2 bits at 3 GHz (0.5 Vpp) and 6 bits at 5 GHz (0.25 Vpp), before showing gain roll-off.

An evaluation kit, called the EVRTH020, is available for testing packaged RTH020 performance.